ERIKA ANDERSON

My name is Erika Anderson and I've been teaching people to play the flute privately in Broadstone and Corfe Mullen for the past seven years. I 'finished' learning at a relatively early age, and ever since then I've been teaching people of all ages and levels. A parent has various choices in teaching environments when they want their child to learn to play an instrument. One of these avenues is a peripatetic lesson. These are available in schools and are an affordable way of learning. Private teachers who travel around schools in the area teach children in groups. The other avenue is private lessons, which are more costly as they are not subsidised by the school, but they provide a better standard as students are taught one to one. Rather than being held in school they are at the home of either the student or the teacher.

When I was learning to play I had experience in both of these. At the age of seven at Springdale school I first picked up the flute. This was great for my parents because it was an opportunity for me to try something new, which wasn't available within the actual school curriculum. In other words, it wasn't compulsory. I found that 1 didn't particularly progress in these lesson, and I think this is due to the ratio of teacher to pupil coupled with the fact that these lessons were about 20 minutes a week.

Of course there are pros and cons to both private and peripatetic lessons, but in my personal experience I progressed much faster with private lessons. The drawback with these is the cost, but that is the only drawback. I have had no experience in teaching groups of children myself, but a few years ago I was able to shadow a peripatetic teacher in the Strouden and Kinson area. These were capable students but they were severely hampered by the nature of their tuition, as was I when I was learning myself. It cannot be argued which of the two ways of teaching is better for a student. There are two main contrasts between private and peripatetic lessons that are worth noting. Firstly, time for peripatetic lessons is taken out of other school lessons, whereas private lessons are after school in the child's own time. Secondly, parents find peripatetic lessons convenient because they are on school grounds so they don't have to travel. As a Private teacher I am happy to go to my students' homes if that is more convenient for them.

If you would like any further information regarding private music tuition please Contact me on 07932 537473.

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